Dance to a Silent Song
by EvenSong
Summary: Ch. 5 A Scanran girl named Selenay is sold into slavery to Kaddar after being used by Magur. She has an odd connection with the sea that makes her suicidal. Set between EM and PoTS. I think. RR please!
1. Dancing Lessons

Disclaimer: Yes, people this is FanFiction.   
  
Extended Summary: A Scanran girl named Selenay is the daughter of a warlord defeated by Magur. Magur...uses her. Then, in order to keep the peace with Carthak, he sells her as a slave to Kaddar. I haven't though much past that yet...except that there will be fluffyness later, probably between Kaddar and Selenay, but if anyone wants something different, I'm open to all suggetions!  
  
"No, Selenay. That's wrong. You don't step first. Your partner is the leader, not you." Raffert huffed in exasperation.   
  
"You really should call me Princess, or Your Highness, you know." Selenay informed her dancing instructor calmly. Then with an innocent smile, she whirled off onto the dance floor alone.   
  
"Selenay! Princess!" Raffert sputtered. Selenay just smiled and spun even farther away from her instructor.   
  
"Selenay! What do you think you're doing?" Selenay stopped dancing and looked up at her father guiltily.   
  
"Warlord Darin! Your daughter is completely unmanageable! I demand to be compensated at once for the trials she has put be through!" Raffert stomped angrily up to the Warlord, not knowing the consequences of demanding anything from a warlord.  
  
"Oh." Darin drew his sword in a flash and lopped off the man's head. "Relieved of your duty," he said as the decapitated body fell to floor and started to spill blood.   
  
"Oh Father, you killed him!" Selenay asked, the very picture of an appalled maiden. She burst into giggles when her father looked dubiously at her.   
  
"Are you sure you're my daughter Selenay? You're not some soft hearted maiden from the South, are you?" It was a ritual banter they exchanged, every time one of her teachers was "relieved" from his teaching.  
  
"Of course, Father!" Selenay ran up to him, through the warm blood, and hugged him.   
  
The Warlord of Scanra walked out of the room with his daughter by his side.   
  
*#*#*  
  
Most of the people that the Warlord dominated thought that the "Princess" was spoiled, doted upon, and all together too free. On most counts, she was. She wasn't even a real Princess; she just insisted that she be called one. Darin maintained that her every whim be met, every want satisfied.   
  
In short, the entire population of Scanra hated her.  
  
*#*#*  
  
Magur's commanders surrounded him. Together they had planned on how to storm the Warlord's fortress. Their planning was over, but the attack was just about to begin.   
  
"For the glory of the Wolf Gods!" Magur screamed, his voice raspy in the chill fall air.   
  
His army shouted back, "For the Wolf Gods!"   
  
Magur screamed, "For the glory of all!"   
  
"Attack!" screamed his troops. They surged forward, a tide of glinting weapons and screaming men. The current Warlord couldn't not have seen the huge force gathering outside his walls. Magur had planned for this.   
  
His army was not at its full strength; the men in the open were only half the force that Magur had. The other half was hidden around or in the fortress, waiting for the first wave of attackers to hit.   
  
The fortress had high walls, but with a thousand men used to breaching such defenses, it was nothing. They swarmed over the fortress like ants on a piece of fruit, numerous and seemingly infinite.   
  
*#*#*  
  
Inside the falling fortress, Selenay watched with horror as her father rushed out to meet the charge. She watched him change from adoring parent to hardened warrior. She knew that this was not the easy killing that her father did everyday. This was somehow darker, and more terrifying.   
  
Selenay hid under her huge bed, clutching an ornamental dagger close to her.   
  
"Not the way a Princess would act," she muttered quietly to herself. The screams outside seemed to last forever and a day.   
  
"Selenay! Where are you Princess?" The voice of her nursemaid called out for her.   
  
Seeking the comfort of her nurse's large arms, the girl scrambled from under the bed, shedding dust bunnies as she ran. "Neryn!" Selenay sobbed into the coarse homespun of Neryn's shirt.   
  
Neryn scooped the Princess up as she had done when the Princess was younger. "Come Selenay," She sat on the large bed and rocked Selenay like a little child.   
  
*#*#*  
  
Magur stormed through the defeated fortress, looking for any living loyalist to the late Warlord Darin. His broad sword was slathered with the blood of its many victims. His blood was up, and he hungered for more death.   
  
"Warlord!" The cry resounded wherever he walked. He decided to correct them later; he was King now. He smiled greedily.  
  
Rathna had been the last of the Scanran territories to fall to him. The other factions of Scanra had been his for a long time. Now he was the King of Scanra.   
  
All he had to do now was to declare to all of Scanra that he was King. If they didn't like it, that was too bad, because they wouldn't live long enough to protest. He smiled happily at that thought.   
  
Magur crashed trough another door. The big bed in the room proved that this room was obviously a bedroom. Magur had no doubt that this was where the former Warlord had slept in luxury. He decided that this room would be his.   
  
No one was in the room to protest his presence.   
  
Then, Magur heard sobs coming from an antechamber. He walked in and saw a blonde girl (just about the right age for himself, he thought) cradled in the arms of an old woman. He sneered.   
  
"You there." Magur grabbed the girl by her hair, and dragged her away from the old woman, ignoring the loud protests that came from both the women. Easily, Magur killed the old woman, who died with a surprised look on her face.   
  
Then he turned to the girl.  
  
*#*#*  
  
Selenay did not like being grabbed by the hair. She felt that it was all a bit undignified for a Princess to be treated this way. In all her twelve years, she had never been so mistreated.   
  
"What do you think your doing?" She screamed at the man who held her by the hair. He ignored her completely.   
  
When the stranger ran Neryn through with his sword, Selenay snapped.   
  
She suddenly didn't care if a Princess shouldn't scratch, bite, kick or scream the vilest oaths that she knew. Fueled by the rage of having her mother-figure dead, Selenay attacked Magur with a rabidity that surprised him.   
  
*#*#*  
  
Magur was used to soft, submissive women. This girl was little more than a child and she was attacking him with the ferocity of a battle-mad warrior.   
  
She was however, no match for him. He still had a good grip on her hair, and he was a trained warrior.   
  
Within moments, he had her twisted so that she couldn't move. Selenay ranted at him, more annoyed now that she wasn't being awarded the respect due to a Princess than anything else. He mind clouded over with hate, pain and fear.   
  
She screamed herself hoarse, while Magur just laughed.   
  
*#*#*  
  
A/N: Ok...this is a Fic that I do plan to continue...but I need help with stuff (i.e....names, funky characters, romance etc...) Tell me what you thinks of it.   
  
I didn't think that there were enough stories about Scanra on here.   
  
Tell me what you think about this...  
  
~Even*Song~ 


	2. Black Dresses and Broadswords

Disclaimer: Yes, people this is FanFiction.   
  
Extended Summary: A Scanran girl named Selenay is the daughter of a warlord defeated by Magur. Magur...uses her. Then, in order to keep the peace with Carthak, he sells her as a slave to Kaddar. I haven't though much past that yet...except that there will be fluffyness later, probably between Kaddar and Selenay, but if anyone wants something different, I'm open to all suggetions!  
  
(Chapter2)  
  
(Four Years Later…)  
  
*#*#*  
  
Selenay woke up in Magur's bed. She looked distastefully at the great lump lying beside her. She slipped out of the bed and wrapped one of the coarse sheets around her body.   
  
Unashamedly, she walked through the hallways of her home, used to the lewd stares that came her way. When she got to her room, she looked wistfully at the bed that always remained perfectly made up. She hadn't slept in her own bed since she was fourteen and Magur first found a sexual interest in her.   
  
Selenay let the sheet fall to the ground. She would return it later.   
  
A shift slipped over her head, then an elaborate black gown that emphasized her pale skin. Deft fingers braided long blonde hair. Her blue eyes showed only one emotion: indifference.   
  
"Lady Selenay," She turned as she heard the door to her room open. Nodding to the man who came in, she turned back to the mirror, intent on disguising the circles under her eyes. She refused to show any sign of weakness to Magur.   
  
The guardsman came everyday at the same time. A few minutes before the sun rose, he would come in to escort her to breakfast.   
  
"The King commands you to come down and join him for breakfast this morning. You will stay with him all day today." The guard bowed out to allow her to finish her morning routine.   
  
She wore black everyday, for she was not through mourning for those that she had lost the day that Magur had conquered the fortress. Magur had hung the severed head of her father in his room, to serve as a grisly trophy of accomplishment.   
  
The heads of the other Warlords were there too, shrunken and rotting. Every night, before she fell asleep at Magur's side, she looked at her father's head and cried herself to sleep.   
  
The sun flooded her chambers with light. Selenay turned and glided out with ethereal grace. She knew, as the guard took her arm to escort her to breakfast, that Magur would be waiting at the table for her, the hunger in his eyes stealing her appetite.   
  
"Milady!" She stopped in the doorway at the sound of Magur's cold voice. The young guard stumbled slightly at the sudden halt. Selenay took a cautious step forward, wondering why Magur sounded so angry.  
  
*#*#*  
  
"Come here Selenay." Magur growled as the girl hesitated in the doorway to the great hall. He was all too aware of the Carthaki "ambassador" sitting beside him.   
  
Selenay dropped the arm of the guard and walked slowly over to his table. When he patted the cushion on his left side, she sat down. He could see that her entire body was tense.  
  
"Princess Selenay," he mocked her in his harsh tones, "I would like you to meet Ambassador Sathi." Magur glared at Sathi with muted hatred.   
  
"Good day, Princess Selenay," The Ambassador said in accented Scanran. He looked slightly affronted when Selenay only nodded to him. With an arched eyebrow, Sathi turned to Magur, "Doe your 'Princess' always treat everyone this way?" the disdain in his voice was obvious.  
  
"Yes," Magur said with a small amount of satisfaction. "She's a mute." He didn't add that she hadn't always been a mute.   
  
"Oh," said Sathi simply.  
  
Selenay could feel the Ambassador's eyes roving over her body, and she squirmed inwardly. Outwardly, she was the picture of calm, cool, apathetic, staring solemnly at the table.   
  
"Let's eat." Magur clapped his hands irritably, and a caravan of servants brought out heaping platters of food. When only a small portion of delicacies were placed in front of Selenay, Sathi asked about it.   
  
"Why, when we get huge foods, does the Princess only get little foods?" Sathi was pleased to find a flaw with Magur.   
  
"She doesn't ever eat more than that." Magur growled, spitting out pieces of food.   
  
"I'm sure." The insulting sarcasm was so blatant, that Magur felt his battle madness starting to come over him.   
  
"Selenay," Magur waited until she looked up from picking at her food. "Go get my broadsword and a dagger for yourself." His words were soft enough for only Selenay to hear. Quietly, she got up from the table, and went to get the weapons. She could feel the eyes of the Ambassador on her back, watching her leave.   
  
She walked down to the chambers that Magur had claimed as his own. She knew exactly where his broadsword was; she had taken it out and contemplated killing him many times while he slept.   
  
She opened the huge trunk and struggled to lift the broadsword out. It was heavy enough that most people couldn't lift it properly. She dug around the bottom of the trunk for the silver dagger that was tucked into the lining. As she tucked the dagger into her bodice, she heard footsteps echoing across the floor and whirled around defensively.   
  
The Ambassador Sathi stood there, grinning at her. Her eyes widened, and she struggled to lift the broadsword in her own defense.   
  
"Don't play games, Selenay, you and I both know that you can't lift that sword much less use it." He took a step toward her still smiling. She hefted the sword a little higher, hoping he would go away.   
  
Of course he didn't.   
  
She wanted to ask him how he had gotten away from Magur, why Magur hadn't come chasing after him. She wanted to scream out for help. The words formed on her tongue, but they wouldn't come out of her mouth.   
  
"You want to know how I got away, don't you? I can see it in your eyes." But Sathi wasn't looking at her eyes; he was staring intently at the sword in her hands. The sword was becoming increasingly heavy, and Selenay felt that she would drop it at any moment. "My men are holding Magur at bay, lovely, and he is weaponless, while they are armed with the best Carthaki weapons. Magur will escape with his life, as long as I can have anything I want."   
  
With a clatter, Selenay dropped the sword that weighed her down. She thought she saw a flash of red too, but she wasn't entirely sure that she could trust her eyes. As soon as she dropped the sword, Sathi was standing in front of her, far too close for comfort.   
  
His hand darted out with snake-like speed and snatched the dagger that was hidden in the bodice. He spun her around and pressed the dagger to her throat. "Listen," He said, "Your King comes."   
  
Selenay could hear the pounding of many feet on the stone floor. She closed her eyes and concentrated on holding back the tears that threatened to fall.   
  
"Sathi! What are you doing with my Princess?" She heard Magur's indignant voice, and she opened her eyes.   
  
Magur stood before them, looking worse for the wear. He held a battered sword in his hand, and he wore a murderous expression.   
  
"Why, I'm just taking what is due to me, my dear Magur. You said, so long ago, that you would give me whatever I wanted if you won your conquests. You have, and I have come to collect my due." Sathi pressed the dagger a little harder into the soft skin of Selenay's throat. She gasped slightly, her first sign of pain.   
  
"Fine take her. Take whatever else you want." Magur looked defeated. He had been caught in his own snare.   
  
Sathi smiled and took the knife away from Selenay's throat. His large hands locked her wrists together in an iron grip. She struggled to get free for a few moments, and then hung her head in defeat when she realized that he wasn't going to let go.   
  
"That's right." Sathi murmured in her ear. He shoved her out of the room, still holding tightly to her wrists.   
  
As Selenay stumbled past Magur, she saw the hate burning in his eyes, and she shuddered, glad not to be its target. Groups of men peeled off from the mob surrounding Magur and left with Sathi, raiding everything that was in reach.   
  
*#*#*  
  
A/N: I didn't think that there were enough stories about Scanra on here. So I wrote one. Does anyone else agree with me? Anyway...thatnks to Black Dragon Diva for reviewing!!! I appreciate the compliments...:o)!!  
  
*#*#*  
  
~Even*Song~ 


	3. The Ocean's Call

Disclaimer: Yes, people this is FanFiction.   
  
Extended Summary: A Scanran girl named Selenay is the daughter of a warlord defeated by Magur. Magur uses her. Then, in order to keep the peace with Carthak, he sells her as a slave to Kaddar. She has an elemental connection to the ocean. It brings her to the brink of insanity, and tries to push her off the edge numerous times. (A magic that is destructive to its owner! At last! Jeez...I am so mean). Expecting some romance with Kaddar later on.   
  
Chapter3  
  
(One Month later…)  
  
*#*#  
  
Selenay stared dismally at the walls of the small cabin that she was locked in. After a grueling two-day ride from Rathna, they had come to Port Alban, a small seaside town. Sathi had given her the room she was in now, told her to be grateful, and then locked the door.   
  
Her black gown was soiled from the days without changing, and from the seasickness, which still gripped her slightly.  
  
Sathi had started the journey out by sleeping with her every night. That had stopped when he woke up with vomit on him. Selenay became even more introspective than she had been.   
  
She cursed herself for being female, for being thought of as beautiful, and most of all for not fighting. She dissected her nature, stressing the flaws in it, and ignoring all of her good qualities.   
  
She tried to kill herself by squeezing out of the porthole had falling into the waters that rushed beneath her. One of the crew had spotted her falling. He had dove in to save her. She tried to swim away from him, but her heavy dress had slowed her down.   
  
When she slipped under the water, he had followed her under, dragging her back up to the surface. By that time, more of the sailors were swimming toward them, ready to help get her back on the ship.   
  
She would slip back under periodically, when the sailors relaxed their grip. She had willed herself to unconsciousness, and she was just a heavy burden to them.   
  
The sailors had brought her back up to the ship, where Sathi had Healed her. When she was being Healed, a blood red light infiltrated her subconscious, intruding into her mind like an unwelcome guest. She had fought it, and lost. When she woke up, she had a throbbing headache, and she was locked in a room without windows.   
  
Selenay sighed, hoping that where she was going would be a better place. She was suddenly seasick again, and she made it to the bucket placed there for that purpose just in time. Her empty stomach heaved for a long time after she had thrown up everything already in it.   
  
Trying to get the bitter taste of bile out of her mouth, she crawled to the door and knock on it, signaling that she had waste to give them. The door opened quickly, and she shoved the bucket out the door, and into someone's sun browned hands.  
  
"You alright miss?" A roughed voice asked her. She looked up into the warm brown eyes of the sailor. She nodded weakly, trying to get him to go away. He caught one of her skeletally thin hands in his and looked up at her again. "You not eating, are you? Find sailors' tack to hard for you, miss?" The man asked jokingly.   
  
Selenay grimaced, only slightly annoyed that he had figured out why her waste buckets were always so full. Her mind was clouded with hunger, pain, and thoughts of suicide.   
  
"Lord Sathi!" The sailor called out across the deck, not releasing Selenay's hand. When Sathi arrived, the sailor preceded to tell him that Selenay was starving herself.   
  
"Selenay, why do try to end you life?" Sathi asked her softly, a truly worried expression on his face. "Why do you shut yourself off from the world? Talk to me Selenay, please." Sathi reached out to stroke her cheek gently. Selenay jerked back abruptly from the gesture of concern, but that proved to be too much for her exhausted body. She collapsed onto the floor of her cabin, the black dress outlining every thin bit of her.   
  
"Oh the poor chit," the sailor said softly. Sathi looked at him, and smiled gratefully.  
  
"Thank you for bringing her condition to my notice. You will be rewarded well." Sathi turned his mind to Healing the girl's shattered mind, and nodded to the sailor when he thanked him. "Can't bring damaged goods to the Emperor," he muttered.   
  
*#*#*   
  
Selenay woke with a headache. She sucked in her breath as the harsh slivers of light from above assailed her sensitive eyes. She curled up into a little ball, trying t forget yesterday's events. Her stomach rebelled violently, and she didn't quite make it to her bucket.   
  
Crawling over to the door, Selenay knocked three times. When the door opened, she pointed to the mess on the floor.   
  
"I see." The sailor got a rag, and a bucket of water, and cleaned up the mess she had made. "Why don't you go out on deck, it might make you feel better?"   
  
Selenay looked at him dubiously, but clambered out topside anyway. She stood by the railing, watching the water rush past the boat. She remembered the way that the water had dragged her down, clawing at her, when she had jumped out.   
  
The Emerald Ocean looked warm and inviting now. The turquoise expanse stretched before her, glistening in the sunlight shining down on it. Selenay closed her eyes, just letting herself be. The wind combed gentle fingers through her hair, kissing her face. The warm sun shone down, warming her pale skin. Her lips curled into a smile, the first time that she had done so in as long as she could remember.   
  
A sudden gust of wind rocked the boat, and Selenay's eyes flew open as she clutched the rail tightly. Her heartbeat skyrocketed, and her breathing became the shallow pant of a terrified animal. The sea seemed to call to her, and it was no longer the warm, friendly entity it had been only moments before.   
  
The ocean tore at her mind, wearing at her sanity, wildly commanding her to come to it. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the wood harder, clinging to the physical manifestation of security.   
  
The breeze did not affect the other sailors on the ship. It was commonplace. They went about their business, as if nothing had happened. In fact, many of them hadn't even noticed the wind.   
  
One seaman turned in time to see the pale girl clutching the rail as if it were the only thing that was holding her up. He ran a hand through cropped brown hair, cursed and started running to her.   
  
Selenay fought the call of the sea with all the reserves of strength that she had. She swayed unsteadily, trying to keep her grip on the rail. The ocean beat at her, cajoling her to let go of the wood, to jump into the water, to abandon everything and everyone the ship.   
  
Suddenly, the sea ceased to invade her mind, leaving her with a roaring silence in her mind. Selenay felt a strong pair of arms around her waist. The roaring in her mind increased in intensity and overwhelmed her completely. She sank back into the strong arms that held her, and into soft blackness.   
  
*#*#*  
  
"Dammit. Why didn't it work?" Sathi cursed over the unconscious girl. He had healed her mind once, which should have been enough. Now all his work was undone and worse.   
  
His ruby Gift pieced together her mind again, bit by bit. She lay on his bed, her thin body barely making a dent in the thin mattress. He shook his head in frustrated anger, not understanding why his healing was not working. He didn't know why she was trying to kill herself. He stroked her temples as he reassembled her mind.   
  
She reminded him so much of his own daughter at this age. Sathi smiled slightly as her remembered Krysallis. She had been the light of his life, but she had turned from him when he began to work in piracy.   
  
She had never been able to take riding on his ships without getting horribly seasick either. He smiled as her thought of his little girl. But she wasn't a little girl anymore.  
  
Sathi turned his mind away from the depressing thoughts and cleared his mind. He then concentrated solely on putting her mind back together. Hours later, Sathi left the room, leaving a man on guard to tell him when Selenay woke up.   
  
*#*#*  
  
Selenay woke feeling whole again. None of the sea's wild call was left. She stretched and opened her eyes, wondering why the floor felt so soft.   
  
"Good morrow, Lady." She whipped around at the sound of a voice in the room. A man smiled at her stiffly. She saw the door closing, heard the click of a lock, and glared at the man suspiciously. He smiled, with a little more reality to it.   
  
Selenay looked down, and saw the mattress she was lying on, and her mouth formed into a little "o" of surprise.   
  
"That's right, little missy, you're in the Captain's chambers." The guard, for that was what he was, snapped to attention as Sathi walked in.   
  
"Selenay, you're awake! I'm glad to see it." Selenay nodded cautiously at Sathi's overly-hearty words. "You gave us quite a scare, there, fainting like you did."   
  
'I'm sure you cared,' Selenay thought cynically to herself.   
  
"Well, just to let you know, we're almost to Carthak now. I think you'll like it there. We should be at Carthak within the day." Sathi smiled genially and chucked her under the chin.   
  
'Leave me alone!' Selenay cried out mentally. Her mouth started to work, trying to say what she was thinking. Sathi stared at her expectantly, waiting patiently. Her tongue knew the words! Her throat would let a sound escape.   
  
"Would you like to say anything, Selenay?" Sathi asked her kindly.   
  
Selenay glanced at the guards, who were smothering laughter at her attempts at speech. She shook her head violently, scowling.   
  
"In that case, I shall be going." Sathi said tersely. He spun around and walked out of the room, making sure the door was locked behind him.   
  
Selenay curled up on the bed and brooded to herself until she felt the ship bump into the dock at Carthak.   
  
Sathi came into the room, with a piece of rope. "Get up and turn around." Selenay, frightened at the change in him, did exactly as she was told. He wrenched her wrists together and tied them that way, pushing all thoughts of Krysallis out of his mind.   
  
Selenay gasped and bit her lip when he tightened the rope around her wrists. He had tied the rope so tightly that it rubbed the skin off them almost immediately.   
  
Sathi shoved her forward, and she stumbled over the ragged hem of the black gown. "Walk," he growled at her. Selenay felt tears come to her eyes as she walked out into the harsh sunlight.   
  
The mutterings that had filled the air when the other goods were brought out intensified at the sight of seeing a pale northerner walking dejectedly in front of Captain Sathi.   
  
The Carthaki nobles wondered what she was doing here. They looked to their Emperor to figure out what they're reaction should be. The Emperor sat in his shaded sedan, like he was supposed to, and stared at the girl.   
  
Selenay lifted her head once and looked straight into the dark eyes of the Emperor. She decided instantly that she hated this man who sat easily in luxury.   
  
"I present a gift to Emperor Kaddar!" Sathi shouted above the crowd. "I present to you, a slave, you Majesty. She is Princess Selenay of Scanra, and a fine specimen for you."   
  
A rebellious look flared in Selenay's blue eyes and she twisted around as best she could to face him. She caught sight of the glittering ocean behind him.   
  
Come, come to me, the ocean whispered to her. I do not hate you like he does. I will not use you. Come. Come to me…  
  
Selenay felt the pure elemental power rise up in her, and collapsed.   
  
*#*#*  
  
A/N: I wasn't going to give her any magic at first, but I changed my mind. I still have yet to decide as to what exactly it is. Thanks to ac_bworm who reviewed. i appreciate it! :o)   
  
Please...review again!   
  
*#*#*  
  
~Even*Song~ 


	4. Slowly Sinking

Disclaimer: Yes, people this is FanFiction.   
  
Extended Summary: A Scanran girl named Selenay is the daughter of a warlord defeated by Magur. Magur uses her. Then, in order to keep the peace with Carthak, he sells her as a slave to Kaddar. She has an elemental connection to the ocean. It brings her to the brink of insanity, and tries to push her off the edge numerous times. (A magic that is destructive to its owner! At last! Jeez...I am so mean). Expecting some romance with Kaddar later on.   
  
(Chapter 4)  
  
(Ten Seconds Later…)  
  
Sathi stared; astonished at the little heap lying on the dock that was Selenay. He had healed her twice! He thought in outrage. Little bitch, to collapse on me now!   
  
Kaddar jumped up and tried to rush to the girl, but his Advisor held him back. "It will do you know good to show the dogs how you feel about the hare." The man whispered in the Emperor's ear.   
  
Kaddar seethed inwardly, composed himself and replied, "The hare does no good to itself by throwing itself into the jaws of the dogs. The kind man will not let the hare suffer any longer than necessary." Kaddar said through clenched teeth.   
  
Personally, Kaddar hated his Advisor. The man was a stuffy, pompous pig. That was putting it nicely, of course.   
  
Kaddar grinned a predator's smile when he saw Sathi frantically to restore the girl and his reputation. "I must go and reprimand Lord Sathi, yes?" Kaddar smiled sweetly at the Advisor, whose jaw moved like a fish out of water.   
  
Kaddar got up smoothly, and walked over to where Sathi and the girl -Selenay, he reminded himself- were. As he walked, he noticed the hungry stares of his courtiers. It was like dangling a piece of fresh meat over the dog pen, Kaddar thought in disgust. He stopped when he reached Sathi, content to be an imposing presence until the man noticed him.   
  
Sathi looked up in terror, his gaze traveling up the Emperor's painted body, from his toes to his cold eyes. "Your…" he swallowed, "Majesty."   
  
"You treat this child as if she were no better than a rat," Kaddar stated in a pleasant voice. Sathi quivered under his glare. The girl coughed suddenly, and both men looked down at her.   
  
*#*#*  
  
Selenay didn't feel herself falling; she only heard the ocean calling to her. It sang to her, weaving her images about what lay beneath the sparkling surface. It showed the colorful coral reefs, with the lively fish darting around. It showed the dolphins playing in the waves that the ships made.   
  
Selenay wanted to rush into the ocean's embrace, to feel the warm water surrounding her with love, holding her and loving her. She didn't care anymore, about her life. She didn't care about anything, only the ocean, and running to it. She willingly gave her mind to it, wanting to see more. The ocean pulled her into a plethora of images, all beautiful and carefree.   
  
Then, the ocean showed her an image that she was not meant to see.  
  
She was swept into the painful feelings of desperation, anger and hate. The ocean tried to take back the image, but her mind was too closely locked with it. The huge…thing…chomped through the tiny wooden boat, catching the screaming sailors with long tentacles.   
  
Selenay shuddered, and tried to wrench her mind out of the union. The sea fought her, trying to keep her mind for itself. It clung desperately to her, holding fast to her mind. Selenay clawed at it, as she had done years earlier when Magur had come.   
  
Finally, she wrenched free of its hold, crying out in mental pain. She slammed back into her body, retreating as fast as possible. She regained her own mind, but slowly.   
  
Selenay's eyes flickered open, and she coughed weakly.   
  
"She's alive." Selenay heard a man say. She rolled over and saw a heavily ornamented man watching her. Her eyes opened wide in fear when his hands reached down to pick her up.   
  
"I wouldn't deliver you tarnished goods, now would I, Emperor Kaddar?" Sathi puffed out his chest with self-importance.   
  
"Shove it," Kaddar said softly, with a dangerous intensity in his voice. He was surprised at how light Selenay was. He carried her easily over to his shaded chair and gently placed her in it.   
  
Kaddar turned to the gathered crowd. "You are dismissed." The crowd hesitated, but scurried eagerly away when the guards advance with naked scimitars in their hands.   
  
"Selenay," Kaddar tested out the name on his tongue. She looked up, her whole body tense. "I'm not going to hurt you, girl." Kaddar chuckled. She didn't relax at all. He reached out a hand to her, to help her up, but she shrank back, trembling.   
  
No! Her mind screamed at him. Don't touch me!   
  
"What did he do to you?" Kaddar hissed, looking around for Sathi. "This is a capital offense, hurting an innocent. He will be punished, I promise." Kaddar stepped closer to her, and felt his face melt into a smile. "You'll be alright, I promise."   
  
"Th-" The sound started to come out of her throat, but it stopped when she realized what was happening. She almost smiled when she realized that she had started to talk.   
  
"What was that?" Kaddar asked, with a confused expression on his face.   
  
Selenay tried to speak again, but she couldn't. She frowned in concentration, willing herself to speak, wishing that she could.   
  
"Can't you speak?" Kaddar asked when she didn't say anything.   
  
Selenay shook her head in frustration, her grungy hair smacking her face. So close! She was infuriated that the words were there, but she could not use them.   
  
"Oh. Come." He ordered her, taking her thin wrist in his large, calloused hand. She looked up at him with those big blue eyes, and he could almost feel the terror washing through her. "I won't hurt you!" He said in exasperation. "Now come." She walked with him submissively, but a good distance away as well.   
  
Am I not your slave? Why do you treat me as an equal? Selenay thought bitterly. She glared at Kaddar's back, wishing he would disappear.   
  
To her utter surprise, he did.   
  
*#*#*  
  
Kaddar suddenly felt lightheaded, as if he were lighter than normal. His feet didn't seem to touch the ground, and it wasn't a pleasant sensation. There was grey mist surrounding him, and he couldn't see through it. He couldn't feel anything, except for Selenay's wrist.   
  
He began to run, searching for a way out.   
  
*#*#*   
  
Selenay stopped and stared. She wondered where the Emperor had gone. She could still feel his hand holding her wrist, but she could see him at all. Oh, dear Wolf Lords, she thought panicking.   
  
Then, some unseen force was pulling her along.   
  
She tripped over her feet, trying to keep up. Her skirt got in the way, and she crashed headlong into the energy that was pulling her. Her mouthed opened in a silent scream as she fell toward the water.   
  
*#*#*  
  
Kaddar fell forward, as something attacked him from behind. He heard a splash, and then felt water closing over his head, even though he couldn't see it. All the breath was expelled from his chest as something kicked him in the chest. He gulped some of the cold water. Kicking back, he let go of Selenay's wrist.   
  
*#*#*  
  
Where is the Emperor? Selenay wondered. I want him back…she thought as the water closed over her head, just as it had the last time. She surrendered quickly, knowing it would do her no good to fight.   
  
A dark shape blotted out the light above her, and she opened her eyes to look. That wasn't there before, her mind mumbled as she breathed in water. I wonder what that is…then she breathed in another lungful of water and passed out.   
  
*#*#*  
  
Jondalo saw the girl tumble into the dark water, and he cried for help as best he could. He was old now, so he could not run as fast as he wished. He couldn't even cry for help; he was left over from Orzone's reign, and Orzone had liked his slaved silent.  
  
Jondalo picked up the nearest stick, and rapped it loudly on the deck in a desperate pattern. One of the younger slaves, one who could speak, came running. Jondalo pointed at the water with his stick.   
  
In the water! A girl! His mind screamed out.  
  
"In the water you say?" The boy looked puzzled. "A girl?"   
  
Jondalo nodded emphatically. Yes, stupid, save her! He thought, believing that he was speaking aloud again.   
  
"Yes, right away, elder! And I'm not stupid," the boy added irritably. He jumped into the water just as Emperor Kaddar surfaced. Jondalo hobbled over to the edge of the canal and stuck out his hand to help the Emperor up.   
  
Kaddar ignored the proffered hand, and heaved himself out of the water, dripping. "I can see!" He sputtered triumphantly.   
  
What does that mean? Jondalo thought with mild annoyance for the obscurities of the young mind. When the Emperor ignored him, Jondalo bowed out of his way deferentially.   
  
*#*#*  
  
Marnam swam to the bottom of the pseudo-river, searching for the girl that the old man had said was in there. His oxygen-deprived mind didn't register the fact that he had heard the old man, who had been mute as long as he could remember.   
  
Nam swam until he couldn't stand the increasing tightness in his chest. He surfaced, gasping for air. He dove back under, feeling the sandy bottom with his hands. He surfaced, dove, and surfaced again three more times, and he never found anything. He began to doubt the old man's sanity.   
  
That is, until he heard Emperor Kaddar shouting about finding his slave girl. And nobody doubted the Emperor.   
  
*#*#*   
  
Selenay felt her mind return, with the soothing whispers of the water as accompaniment. Come, live with us…dive beneath the waves…come…come…come…come to us…come…  
  
She rejected the call, shoving it into the corner of her mind where her memories of her father were. Still, it pulled at her mind, telling her she couldn't go back, not as she was…to come, come…join us forever…never leave…live forever, with us…with those who love you…come…join us forever…  
  
She would not accept it! She couldn't, she needed revenge…sweet revenge…kill Maggur like he had her father…  
  
Yes, the sea whispered, get revenge, and we can help you…we can uplift you…we love you…we would help, if you would let us…  
  
She looked wildly around her, noticing for the first time, the water surrounding her. How? She wondered.   
  
Look, the water told her, look at your legs, an insane giggle filled her mind. Look at you!   
  
She looked, and saw pale blue skin, rippling with reflections of the world above. What is this? She asked, curious, more accepting now.   
  
See! See! The water tittered in her mind. We told you! You cannot go back now! You are part of us! See! The water had a tinkling little laugh that echoed long after it ended.   
  
What am I? She wondered.   
  
You are part of us! The sea laughed. See, we love you! You have always been part of us…  
  
Oh. Selenay winced as a hand grasped her wrist.   
  
You are going? You cannot go! It is not allowed! The sea protested in a shrill voice that hurt her ears. You are part of us!   
  
Suddenly, she was hit with the sea's anger, violent, wrathful and full of hate. She screamed silently, flooded with the images of the sea's destructive nature.   
  
The hand that pulled her up tightened its fingers around her wrist and hauled. Selenay willed herself to faint, to do anything to get her out of the torture that would surely follow.   
  
She did nothing of the sort. Her eyes opened wide as she glanced around her. She looked at her skin, and was almost disappointed to see that it was milky white, and as pale as ever.   
  
She lifted her blue eyes to meet the eyes of her rescuer. The brown eyes that stared into her own were full of love, and compassion.   
  
"My name is Marnam." The man said smiling at her. "I hope you fare well."   
  
*#*#*  
  
A/N: Ok...sorry this update took so long, but I have problems with losing the notebooks that i write these chapters in. Thanks to friend Chrissy for borrowing this and holding up the chapters.   
  
Oh...Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed!!! I love y'all!   
  
Sorry for the cynicism in this A/N...but that's me at times. :o)  
  
I am going to reccomend something for y'all who like comedy...Smothers Brothers...they're old but they're AWESOME!   
  
*#*#*  
  
~Even*Song~ 


	5. Sycophants and Singers

Disclaimer: Yes, people this is FanFiction.   
  
Extended Summary: A Scanran girl named Selenay is the daughter of a warlord defeated by Magur. Magur uses her. Then, in order to keep the peace with Carthak, he sells her as a slave to Kaddar. She has an elemental connection to the ocean. It brings her to the brink of insanity, and tries to push her off the edge numerous times. (A magic that is destructive to its owner! At last! Jeez...I am so mean). Expecting some romance with Kaddar later on.   
  
(Chapter 5)  
  
(A Couple Hours Later…)  
  
Selenay was snuggled in the bed, wrapped with warm sheets. She was asleep, and not dreaming for once, which was a relief. Nam had carried her up to the room she was in now. Servants had attended to her, and they treated her as if she were a Princess again.   
  
They had bathed her in warm water, soaping her hair with herbs and other things she couldn't name. She had fallen asleep in the tub, and they had let her sleep, carrying her out to her new room.   
  
That was where she was sleeping in luxury.   
  
A soft knock at the door woke her up and she mumbling something incoherent before getting up to open the door.   
  
"Oh dear, you didn't have to get up! I was just wondering if you were awake!" The blonde woman looked slightly worried.   
  
Selenay smiled sleepily at the woman.   
  
"I do have a key, you know," the woman prattled on. "I could have let myself in, but since you did it for me, I didn't have to get it out and possibly spill your food!" She was stopped from embarrassing herself further by the touch of Selenay's hand on her arm. "Oh, by the way, I'm Varice." The blonde seemed flustered about something.   
  
Selenay just stood there, picking out words to say to Varice. Why are you in such a rush? What are you smiling about? Instead she just smiled at the woman.   
  
"Here's your dinner!" Selenay scrutinized the woman as she talked animatedly about everything. Varice was tall and slender, a good combination. She was also blonde, though not has silvery blonde as Selenay herself.   
  
Varice chattered on until Selenay was finished with her dinner. She talked about everything from her new husband to the Wildmage that had caused so much destruction so many months past. Selenay learned that Varice was pregnant with the child of her new husband, Emperor Kaddar's Head Servant. When Selenay started to yawn more and more frequently.  
  
"Oh you must be so tired, you poor child. I'll let you rest now. Don't worry about anything until the morning! Sweet dreams, little one." Varice tucked Selenay in as if she were a little child, even humming a soft lullaby.   
  
*#*#*  
  
Kaddar paced through his chambers, trying to figure out what had happened earlier in the day. What had happened to him to make him fall in the canal? Why had he not been able to see suddenly? What did this all have to do with the Scanran Princess?   
  
"Your Most Eminent Majesty, I entreat you to stop pacing! It is not a good habit to get into at all!" His Advisor, Chelan, said stuffily.  
  
"Why?" Kaddar snapped. He suddenly realized how tired his legs were. He had paced his rather extensive suite of rooms at least five times now. Sighing, he sat heavily onto his overstuffed chair. "Sit Chelan, sit." He motioned to a chair and rested his head on his hands.   
  
"Your Most Eminent Majesty?" Chelan asked nervously, the closest that he could get to concern.   
  
"Can you answer something for me, Advisor?" Kaddar asked tiredly. "I have many unanswered questions, and I hope that you can help me."   
  
"Go on," Chelan said primly.   
  
"What do you think is a proper punishment for Lord Sathi?" Kaddar watched as the piggish face went white, then an interesting shade of scarlet. He knew that the man had connections with Sathi, and that was the only reason why both men were wealthy.   
  
"What has the Lord Sathi done?" Chelan asked stiffly, struggling to compose himself.   
  
"He has committed a federal offense, the enslaving of a child, a human being, for Mithros' sake! It is despicable! Slavery may have been fit for my uncle, Orzone, but I will not condone it!" Kaddar was controlling his urge to jump up and strangle his Advisor only slightly.   
  
Chelan shook in his seat, afraid of his sovereign's wrath. "Your Most Eminent Majesty Kaddar, I am sorry if I may have offended you in anyway. Please! Forgive me!" Chelan dropped to his knees and flattened himself against the intricately tiled floor, making himself as vulnerable as possible.   
  
"Get up, man," Kaddar sneered. He would have to get a new advisor, he decided. "I won't kill you," yet, he added silently to himself. "Now answer me! Don't just lay there and grovel, answer me!"   
  
"Your Most Eminent Majesty Kaddar, fitting punishment for the L-Lord Sathi would be beheading in this case." Advisor Chelan's voice trembled just slightly.   
  
"Make sure the order is carried out by dawn tomorrow." Kaddar sat back down, grinning slightly. His Advisor crawled backward to his chair.   
  
"Yes, Emperor Kaddar," Chelan said, insinuating a slightly mocking tone into his voice. Kaddar pointedly ignored the jibe.   
  
"Now, for my second question," Kaddar stretched long, tan legs out in front of him, "Who does that Scanran Princess belong too?"   
  
"Why, you of course!" Chelan looked truly confused. Kaddar wasn't very surprised.   
  
"No," he said with the patience of an adult speaking to a particularly obstinate child, "Whom did she belong to before Sathi stole her away?"   
  
"I cannot say, Shinning Emperor." Chelan obviously wouldn't say, even though he did know.   
  
"Do you know if she has any magic, afflictions or chronic illnesses?" Kaddar asked, moving swiftly from topic to topic to keep Advisor Chelan on his toes.   
  
"Lord Sathi did say that he healed her mind at least two times on the voyage home; she starves herself and tried to commit suicide at least one time, and there was no sign of any Gift in her," Chelan replied smoothly, easily hopping from subject to subject. He knew that he was being tested, and he handled it with effortlessness.   
  
Kaddar longed to ask the questions he had been thinking of earlier, but it would be of no avail to spill his fears and doubts to this gossipmonger. Instead, he smiled genially and waved at the Advisor: he was dismissed.   
  
The sycophantic Advisor bowed out with many "Your Eminent Majesty's" and "Oh Shining Emperor of Imperial Honor's." Kaddar heaved a great sigh of relief when he was gone.   
  
He summoned the ever-present courier to him at once. "Go tell the Lady Varice to bake something sweet for me. Oh- and while your at it send a singer in." Kaddar was almost too tired to be polite. "Thank you," he added a little belatedly. The boy ran off at once to do his bidding.  
  
The Emperor was sprawled across the couch, thinking of Daine the Wildmage who had so recently left Carthak. He had thought of her as a mere nothing until he had really talked to her. Also until she had salvaged what was rest of his life and given it back to him.   
  
He sighed again, noting that he was doing far too much sighing lately for hi own good.  
  
The knock on the door snapped him out of his depressed reverie. "What is it?" he asked after a rather startled pause.   
  
"The Signer you have requested is here, Oh Emperor of Carthak." The high voice of the courier informed him.   
  
"Let her in." Kaddar reorganized himself on the couch so that he was sitting up and not laying down in a completely un-Emperor-like fashion.   
  
"I am sorry to disappoint you, Your Majesty, but I am not a female." The man who walked in said with a look of slight consternation on his face. "All of the others signers are…busy." He said. "I am Nam- Marnam." The singer quickly corrected himself.   
  
"Well, Nam," Kaddar pointedly used the first name the singer had given, "Sing something for me."  
  
"Yes, Emperor." Nam cleared his throat and hummed a couple bars of a lilting melody. Then he began to sing:   
  
"Silence in the morning   
  
Kissed gently by the sun  
  
The birdsong acts as herald  
  
For the day that has yet to come   
  
The clouds blow over gently  
  
As the sun lights up the sky  
  
The trees whisper with a rustle  
  
And the wind takes up the cry  
  
Flowers nod vibrant heads  
  
While the dewdrops melt away  
  
Slowly morning fades into the past  
  
In its footsteps follows the newborn day."  
  
Nam looked around the room-almost guilty, Kaddar thought- awaiting judgment of his performance.   
  
"That was good," Kaddar voiced his approval. At first he tried to hide his astonishment at the young man's excellent voice, but he decided that Nam could use all the praise that he could get. "That was very good!" Kaddar smiled happily. "Would you sing another?"   
  
Marnam's voice was just right- not too deep to be constantly out of tune, and not so high that it sounded female. His voice was rich and perfected, the core of music.   
  
Marnam sang again, a shorter song this time, but a song made exquisitely beautiful by his voice,   
  
"Wave upon wave  
  
Crashing on the sand  
  
Tearing at each life  
  
That lives upon the land  
  
Anger almost tangible  
  
At watching the land die  
  
Pounding on the beach  
  
With each heart-torn cry,"  
  
"Thank you Nam, that was…" Kaddar trailed off, not quite sure how to give the compliment. "It was splendid." He decided at last.   
  
Nam's face broke out into a radiant smile. "Thank you, Great Emperor. Shall I sing another?" When Kaddar nodded, he sang again, and again and again. By the time his voice was hoarse, it was well past midnight.   
  
"Thank you, Nam," Kaddar said sleepily.   
  
Marnam walked out as he saw the Emperor's eyes closing. He stopped when a servant with a cake entered the room. "He's asleep, you know."  
  
"Ah, thank you for telling me." The servant opened the door softly.   
  
Marnam walked back to his room within the barracks of the other singers. He was one of the only male singers, but that didn't matter to him. The girls weren't there all the time, so most of the time, he had the whole floor to himself.   
  
He began to hum as he walked through the palace. Nothing loud, just loud enough to fill the hallways around him.   
  
*#*#*  
  
Selenay woke up when she heard distant singing. She closed her eyes, remembering how she used to dance when she was younger, when her father was- no, she refused to think about it.   
  
She remembered how she had gone through many dancing teachers, most of who had praised her talents in the beginning, and then scorned her as she continued to ignore their directions. They had said that she had natural talent, and that her graceful movements looked exactly like the water flowing.   
  
Selenay smiled, as the music got louder. She crawled out of her bed and stood on the cold floor, just listening.   
  
Then, with one quick movement, she began to dance.   
  
The music flowed through her, using her as a channel to express it. Her arms moved in perfect synchronization with the rest of her body. Everything seemed right for a moment…she was flying through the air, leaping with joy and silent laughter.   
  
With wild abandon, she flung open the door, not caring who saw her dancing. She wasn't thinking anymore, only dancing. All she knew was that she had to find the music, the wonderful music.   
  
*#*#*  
  
A/N: Alrighty...all that poetry is mine mine mine...please don't take it! :o) I want to try something: you tell me what you want to happen later on in the plot. I will pick one and yippee skippy! I'll announce whose ideas I picked.   
  
Bwahahaha...  
  
Do you people lik my characters? Do you want more? Would you like to suggest characters? Then feel free to do so.   
  
I do have some questions, after all.   
  
1. Does Kaddar have a gift?   
  
2. What does Mary Sue mean?   
  
That's it for now...so read, review and enjoy!  
  
*#*#*  
  
...EvenSong... 


End file.
